I'm thinking about doing some track time and wanted some input on options. My car is a MSport 335i and the thought is to do 3-4 track days a year and a handful of autocross courses.

Wheels - I was planning on running a square setup 18x8 or 8.5 with a ET32-38. I'm hoping this will be slightly cheaper to run since I can rotate tires if needed. Also the front end is really space constrained. I checked spacing and the top of the tire is about 1/2" away and the strut is about the same.

Tires - I was going to run 235/35/18 Hankook RS3. The tires will be 0.5" smaller in diameter which should help with gearing and clearance. The tires will be slightly wider but I should be ok. I've never run the Hankooks before but from what I've read they seemed to be a decent tire. I didn't want a full blown R compound tire because I'm probably going to be driving on them to whatever event I go to close and far. Anyone have experience with these or other aggressive street tires? The input would be appreciated.

TPMS - My Toyota requires me to take it in to the dealer to re-initialize different wheels/sensors. I don't believe I need to do that with the BMW. It seems like I can swap tires and use the reset/recalibrate menu to initialize the different set of wheels. Am I understanding that correctly?

Brakes - I may run the stock pads and rotors but didn't know if they would fade. Does anyone have any experience with the F30 on the track yet? Have you had any issues with fading?

Brake Fluid - I can't find in the owners manual what type of brake fluid they use. I'm thinking that I would be ok if they are using DOT 4 fluid but may want to change to ATE Blue to have a little higher boiling point. Anyone make the switch yet to a higher grade fluid? Are they running DOT 4 or 5?

I'm thinking about doing some track time and wanted some input on options. My car is a MSport 335i and the thought is to do 3-4 track days a year and a handful of autocross courses.

Wheels - I was planning on running a square setup 18x8 or 8.5 with a ET32-38. I'm hoping this will be slightly cheaper to run since I can rotate tires if needed. Also the front end is really space constrained. I checked spacing and the top of the tire is about 1/2" away and the strut is about the same.

Tires - I was going to run 235/35/18 Hankook RS3. The tires will be 0.5" smaller in diameter which should help with gearing and clearance. The tires will be slightly wider but I should be ok. I've never run the Hankooks before but from what I've read they seemed to be a decent tire. I didn't want a full blown R compound tire because I'm probably going to be driving on them to whatever event I go to close and far. Anyone have experience with these or other aggressive street tires? The input would be appreciated.

TPMS - My Toyota requires me to take it in to the dealer to re-initialize different wheels/sensors. I don't believe I need to do that with the BMW. It seems like I can swap tires and use the reset/recalibrate menu to initialize the different set of wheels. Am I understanding that correctly?

Brakes - I may run the stock pads and rotors but didn't know if they would fade. Does anyone have any experience with the F30 on the track yet? Have you had any issues with fading?

Brake Fluid - I can't find in the owners manual what type of brake fluid they use. I'm thinking that I would be ok if they are using DOT 4 fluid but may want to change to ATE Blue to have a little higher boiling point. Anyone make the switch yet to a higher grade fluid? Are they running DOT 4 or 5?

Thanks for the help,

Regarding wheels, I would strongly consider 17" wheels because they are lighter and may allow you to run a wider tire clearance wise. That is what I will likely do unless I determine I want a BBK and can't fit them under 17's. If you run into clearance problems, whether with 17s or 18s, camber and/or spacers may help things.

Regarding tires, I have no experience with the Hankooks. I like Dunlap Direzza Star Specs for a street/track tire. The are good combination of durability, performance, and predictability.

Regarding the TPMS, I was at Tirerack the other day and they swapped over the sensors from my summer wheels to my new winter wheels. I'm not sure they had to reset anything; my TPMS warning light was on for the first few miles afterwards and then turned off. On my prior GTI, I never had to reset anything when swapping between my daily wheels and track wheels.

Regarding brakes, Mocohead indicated the stock ones were pretty good but he suggested he was not going 10/10ths in terms of braking. I believe he also used the stock fluid. Because I will be pushing the car hard in NASA TT, I will almost certainly be going with race pads and Motul RBF 600 or better fluid. I always rather be safe than sorry when it comes to brakes.

Sorry I can't be more help but I just got the car, live in Chicago, and will not track it until May or so. The folks in the South and West have no excuse not to get out there now

I really liked the RS-3 on my Evo. Great grip, sturdy wear characteristics, and no chunking like I experienced with the Z1 Star Spec. I think it is an excellent choice, especially for the cost.

As for brakes whether or not you make changes all depends on your current driving level. If you are an advanced or instructor level student, then track pads and Castrol SR-F fluid make sense. If you are beginner to intermediate you should be ok on stock pads. Just lengthen your braking zones a bit to keep them cooler. Remember that at HPDE events, there is no prize money so that 1/10th second per lap you gain from late braking is not really worth it in the end.

I really liked the RS-3 on my Evo. Great grip, sturdy wear characteristics, and no chunking like I experienced with the Z1 Star Spec. I think it is an excellent choice, especially for the cost.

As for brakes whether or not you make changes all depends on your current driving level. If you are an advanced or instructor level student, then track pads and Castrol SR-F fluid make sense. If you are beginner to intermediate you should be ok on stock pads. Just lengthen your braking zones a bit to keep them cooler. Remember that at HPDE events, there is no prize money so that 1/10th second per lap you gain from late braking is not really worth it in the end.

Squire is the right way to go, and your setup sounds perfect. Enjoy!

Thanks for the input.

Also, Tire Rack is pretty amazing. Ordered wheels yesterday at 10:30am. They were at my door at 10am this morning. Crazy service. I haven't had a chance to try them on the car but it should be a conservative fit. The tires are square. Probably about the squarest tires I've seen. The width seems pretty true. Possibly a litte wider. Also, the diameter seems to be larger than the 25.4" quoted or at least putting them next to my stock tires. Could be that there's no weight on them.

Now I just have to wait for the little adapter puck I ordered for jacking the car up. Amazing that a small little puck takes longer to get to me then 170lbs worth of tires.

Also, Tire Rack is pretty amazing. Ordered wheels yesterday at 10:30am. They were at my door at 10am this morning. Crazy service.

I got the same tires as you did, also from Tire Rack. Same thing... I got them OVERNIGHT. I couldn't believe it! Now I'm waiting for my wheels. Everyone I've spoken to about these tires highly recommends them. I think we'll be happy.

Stom i see youre in sd. Which track do you plan to go to? Those tires look beefy and oversized guess because they are not mounted.

You guys all making me jealous of your setups! Motivation to increase the skillset!

Well, there's an event at Chuckwalla in March and one at Thunderhill in June. That's the only things I've scoped out so far. I was going to try and get in an autox prior though to see where the limits are and car attitudes.

As for the tires. I would say they do seem to run large. Definitely maxing out an 8" rim. They use everybit of their width too as they are a very square tire. The Hankooks would be a little happier on 8 1/2's now that I see them.

Stom i see youre in sd. Which track do you plan to go to? Those tires look beefy and oversized guess because they are not mounted.

You guys all making me jealous of your setups! Motivation to increase the skillset!

Well, there's an event at Chuckwalla in March and one at Thunderhill in June. That's the only things I've scoped out so far. I was going to try and get in an autox prior though to see where the limits are and car attitudes.

As for the tires. I would say they do seem to run large. Definitely maxing out an 8" rim. They use everybit of their width too as they are a very square tire. The Hankooks would be a little happier on 8 1/2's now that I see them.

Bmw la cca autox on mar 3. California speedway. Try to make it. Im also going to buttonwillow on feb 22 but its a friday. Let me know.

Well, there's an event at Chuckwalla in March and one at Thunderhill in June. That's the only things I've scoped out so far. I was going to try and get in an autox prior though to see where the limits are and car attitudes.

I have gotten some early promotional materials for the BMW CCA Oktoberfest which is August 19-25. The venue will be in Monterey, CA and the track will be Laguna Seca. From what I learned at the recent Pacific Region Chapter Congress two weeks ago, there will be 3 days of HPDE, a day or two of autocross, car control clinics, TSD rallys, a concours and various tours. It is going to be an amazing time! http://www.bmwccaofest.org/

Pics of the new track rims. Programming the new sensors is so simple. Love it. Removing 56 lbs of rotational mass does wonders. It is a little 4x4ish high but I plan on doing stock class for a while until I get to know the car.